It has been a long time and many moons ago since there has been a haunt at the Ventura Fairgrounds. Ventura Fear Grounds is a new haunt attraction that will hopefully spawn a stable annual haunt for Ventura County residents in the years to come. Residents in the area no longer need to travel to LA County for a pro haunt this year since there are no independent haunts in Ventura County this year; so thankfully Ventura Fear Grounds came in to save the day. This was our experience below in order of activity.
Ventura County Fear Grounds Mazes
The Cage reminded us of an old school haunt technique where the entire or the bulk of the maze is inside a chain linked fence. We expected the maze to end after a couple of minutes but it just kept going and going. So how do the monsters get you since it's a fence you can virtually see through? There were sections of “the cage” that were covered up with cloth that looks like it's been roughed up and used with holes in them. This gives off an eerie feeling especially when you’re about to walk down one of these corridors. Scare actors will pop up and rattle the fence and most times you wouldn’t even see them coming. Your mission is to simply find your way out of this massive cage. It was fun trying to find out how long the “caged” walk-through experience would last.
Terror Trail has a name that suggests exactly that; the long walk can and will bring you terror. This was one super long trail that consisted of concrete and dirt pathways. The trail has no centralized theme but it seemingly took us through sets where anything terrorizing can pop out and anything goes. Talk about having a long trail; this was by far the longest “haunted trail” that we’ve ever stepped foot on. Though this was likely the longest walk-through attraction we’ve ever walked through; there was very little to see. It seemed that there weren’t enough scare actors or sets or props. However, it can be attributed to the fact that the trail is so long and that is why everything was so sparse and spread out. The most memorable parts were the trails at the garden area where it zig zagged countless times and the two long exterior corridors we had to walk through. We remembered it because it felt redundant and there was not much going on. We felt that trails at the garden have potential because it’s so dark and it seems never ending; there is definitely room for more scares here.
Ventura County Fear Grounds Fright Train
Unfortunately we missed the train. This was actually our first stop. However, when we asked the line monitor where the RIP/VIP line is; we were told that both lines are VIP for tonight. Both lines were equally as long so we went to tackle the other mazes first. Later that night, we went back after we finished the other haunts and again approached the line for the Fright Train. Apparently there had been no changes and the problem did not get fixed. Both lines were still equally as long and it was now closing time. Therefore, we couldn’t catch the train and had to walk out empty-handed. We felt that because of the line monitors not doing their jobs, we were forced to miss out on what could’ve been a great train ride.
Ventura County Fear Grounds Conclusion
Though we are glad to see that the city and county of Ventura finally has another multi-haunt attraction; overall we felt that it needs a bit of work. The Fright Train needed better line management, anyone can get into the VIP line it seemed. The Cage can get redundant after a few minutes. The Terror Trail is great because there were some nice set decor and props, but something has to be done about the route and the length. There were also no scare zones. However, we did encounter 2 hula girls dancing and did notice there’s a food vendor and an alcohol vendor. There were also plenty of seating so the squeamish can stay in this area and just enjoy the entertainment and some food. There is a lot of space and a lot of potential for this haunt to grow next year; we are hoping we can see that. This is a haunt that locals should visit so that they don’t have to make the trek to LA County. VCFG is open until Halloween Night.
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For more info visit: https://www.surferspointlive.com/fear-grounds
